These are the Countries that Save the Most Money Around the World

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Everyone likes to put away a little bit of money each month to save up for a treat or to protect against unexpected payouts. At Expert Market, we've researched which countries are able to save the most money each month.

Using two unique data sets from OECD, we calculated how much each country can save based on average household incomes and on the costs of living. So what did we find?


Which Country Saves the Most Money?

The results show that Switzerland – despite having a lower household income than the USA – saves the most money, around $926 per month or $1.27 every hour.

The USA has the highest household income on the list of 30 countries studied by the OECD, yet we sit in 9th place for the amount of money we're able to save – behind Australia and multiple European countries too. In the states we are able to save on average $243 per month or 33 cents an hour.

However, the USA sits a lot higher on the list than our closest neighbors do. Canada came in halfway down the list in 15th place with average monthly savings of $152. Mexico sit all the way down in 21st place, saving just 9 cents an hour.

CountryAverage Annual IncomeAverage Household SavingsAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsDaily SavingsHourly Savings
Switzerland$58,38919.03%$11,109.09$925.76$30.44$1.27
Sweden$40,90915.72%$6,430.49$535.87$17.62$0.73
Norway$50,9089.11%$4,638.23$386.52$12.71$0.53
Australia$50,1679.23%$4,627.91$385.66$12.68$0.53
Germany$44,9259.52%$4,278.21$356.52$11.72$0.49
France$41,2528.89%$3,666.48$305.54$10.05$0.42
Austria$46,0847.8%$3596.4$299.70$9.85$0.41
Netherlands$50,6706%$3,039.19$253.27$8.33$0.35
United States$58,7144.97%$2,916.32$243.03$7.99$0.33
Denmark$50,0244.97%$2,487.19$207.27$6.81$0.28
Belgium$47,7025.1%$2,430.89$202.57$6.66$0.28
Korea$33,1107.18%$2,377.30$198.11$6.51$0.27
Slovenia$33,0856.49%$2,148.54$179.04$5.89$0.25
Chile$23,2478.87%$2,062.24$171.85$5.65$0.24
Canada$47,8433.81%$1,823.30$151.94$5.00$0.21
Czech Republic$21,6896.63%$1,437.98$119.83$3.94$0.16
Spain$36,3253.88%$1,410.50$117.54$3.86$0.16
Italy$34.1402.91%$993.13$82.76$2.72$0.11
Hungary$19,9994.91%$982.15$81.85$2.69$0.11
Slovak Republic$22,0313.82%$840.92$70.08$2.30$0.10
Mexico$14,8675.36%$796.72$66.39$2.18$0.09
Estonia$21,5643.38%$729.73$60.81$2.00$0.08
United Kingdom$41,384-0.18%-$74.91-$6.24-$0.21-$0.01
Finland$40,731-0.20%-$82.68-$6.89-$0.23-$0.01
Japan$35,780-0.47%-$168.17-$14.01-$0.46-$0.02
Poland$23,998-0.71%-$169.43-$14.12-$0.46-$0.02
Ireland$46,074-0.4%-$182.91-$15.24-$0.50-$0.02
Portugal$24,105-4.07%-$979.87-$81.66-$2.68-$0.11
Latvia$20,518-11.24%-$2,306.63-$192.22-$6.32-$0.26
Greece$25,211-17.28%-$4,255.45-$362.95-$11.93-$0.50

Which Country Saves the Least Money?

At the bottom of list sit Greece – not too surprising given their financial circumstances over the past few years.

Those in Greece are actually unable to save any money as their outgoings are on average higher than their salary. Greek citizens are currently losing 50 cents an hour or $363 every month.

And it’s not just Greece that are unable to save, 8 countries came out with negative figures in this savings study. Including our transatlantic cousins in the UK who are losing 1 cent every hour or $6.24 per month.


What's the State of Play in the USA?

Expert Market dug deeper into the data and identified which state is able to save the most money, based on average state incomes from the Kaiser Family foundation.

Thanks to their higher income, people working in New Hampshire are able to save an average of $313 a month or 43 cents per hour. On the other end of the scale those in Mississippi are only able to save $166 every month or 23 cents an hour.

StateAnnual SalaryAnnual SavingsMonthly SavingsDaily SavingsHourly Savings
New Hampshire$75,675.00$3,761.05$313.42$10.30$0.43
Alaska$75,112.00$3,733.07$311.09$10.23$0.43
Maryland$73,594.00$3,657.62$304.80$10.02$0.42
Connecticut$72,889.00$3,622.58$301.88$9.92$0.41
Minnesota$68,730.00$3,415.88$284.66$9.36$0.39
New Jersey$68,357.00$3,397.34$283.11$9.31$0.39
Massachusetts$67,861.00$3,372.69$281.06$9.24$0.39
Washington$67,243.00$3,341.98$278.50$9.16$0.38
Colorado$66,596.00$3,309.82$275.82$9.07$0.38
Utah$66,258.00$3,293.02$274.42$9.02$0.38
Hawaii$64,514.00$3,206.35$267.20$8.78$0.37
California$63,636.00$3,162.71$263.56$8.66$0.36
Virginia$61,486.00$3,055.85$254.65$8.37$0.35
Wyoming$60,925.00$3,027.97$252.33$8.30$0.35
Iowa$60,855.00$3,024.49$252.04$8.29$0.35
Oregon$60,834.00$3,023.45$251.95$8.28$0.35
Nebraska$60,474.00$3,005.56$250.46$8.23$0.34
Illinois$60,413.00$3,002.53$250.21$8.23$0.34
Pennsylvania$60,389.00$3,001.33$250.11$8.22$0.34
Vermont$59,494.00$2,956.85$246.40$8.10$0.34
Missouri$59,196.00$2,942.04$245.17$8.06$0.34
New York$58,005.00$2,882.85$240.24$7.90$0.33
Delaware$57,756.00$2,870.47$239.21$7.86$0.33
North Dakota$57,415.00$2,853.53$237.79$7.82$0.33
Texas$56,473.00$2,806.71$233.89$7.69$0.32
Rhode Island$55,701.00$2,768.34$230.69$7.58$0.32
Wisconsin$55,425.00$2,754.62$229.55$7.55$0.31
South Dakota$55,065.00$2,736.73$228.06$7.50$0.31
Kansas$54,865.00$2,726.79$227.23$7.47$0.31
Michigan$54,203.00$2,693.89$224.49$7.38$0.31
Ohio$53,301.00$2,649.06$220.75$7.26$0.30
Arizona$52,248.00$2,596.73$216.39$7.11$0.30
Nevada$52,008.00$2,584.80$215.40$7.08$0.30
Indiana$51,983.00$2,583.56$215.30$7.08$0.29
Idaho$51,624.00$2,565.71$213.81$7.03$0.29
Montana$51,395.00$2,554.33$212.86$7.00$0.29
North Carolina$50,797.00$2,524.61$210.38$6.92$0.29
Georgia$50,768.00$2,523.17$210.26$6.91$0.29
Maine$50,756.00$2,522.57$210.21$6.91$0.29
Florida$48,825.00$2,426.60$202.22$6.65$0.28
Tennessee$47,330.00$2,352.30$196.03$6.44$0.27
Oklahoma$47,077.00$2,339.73$194.98$6.41$0.27
South Carolina$46,360.00$2,304.09$192.01$6.31$0.26
Louisiana$45,922.00$2,282.32$190.19$6.25$0.26
New Mexico$45,119.00$2,242.41$186.87$6.14$0.26
Alabama$44,509.00$2,212.10$184.34$6.06$0.25
West Virginia$42,824.00$2,128.35$177.36$5.83$0.24
Arkansas$42,798.00$2,127.06$177.26$5.83$0.24
Kentucky$42,387.00$2,106.63$175.55$5.77$0.24
Mississippi$40,037.00$1,989.84$165.82$5.45$0.23
Written by:
Rob Binns
Rob writes mainly about the payments industry, but also brings to the table industry-specific knowledge of CRM software, business loans, fulfilment, and invoice finance. When not exasperating his editor with bad puns, he can be found relaxing in a sunny (socially-distanced) corner, with a beer and a battered copy of Dostoevsky.
Reviewed by:
Heleana Neil, Business Services editor
Heleana Neil specialises in Business Services, managing the strategy and production of content for SMBs, helping businesses with the challenges and opportunities they face today. Covering everything from payroll to payment processing, Heleana uses her expertise to help business owners make better, informed decisions and grow their companies.